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Established between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, Philadelphia became the first major shipping port in North America. For some 200 years, the streets, piers, and businesses of the central waterfront along the Delaware River were a hub of maritime and commercial trade. Join us as local historian and author Harry Kyriakodis discusses the earliest chapter of the waterfront’s history: the riverbank caves in which early Quakers settlers lived and the series of steps that William Penn directed to be built along the river. The lecture will be followed by a document display, refreshments, and Mr. Kyriakodis will sign copies of his book, which will be available for sale.

A historian and writer about Philadelphia, Harry Kyriakodis has collected what is likely the largest private collection of books about the City of Brotherly Love--about 2,500 titles, new and old. He is a founding/certified member of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides and has lived at Pier 3 Condominium at Penn’s Landing since 1997, when and where his fascination with Philadelphia’s waterfront district began. Harry regularly gives walking tours and presentations on this and other unique yet unappreciated parts of the city for various groups. He is a graduate of La Salle University (1986) and Temple University School of Law (1993) and was once an officer in the U.S. Army Field Artillery.